Sheriffs in North Carolina want access to state computer records identifying anyone with prescriptions for powerful painkillers and other controlled substances.
Let me see, law abiding citizens suffering from pain now are being asked to share their confidential personal medical information with our bureaucrats with guns. Wait, there's more:
[L]aw enforcement officials’ definition of over-prescribing has sharply diverged from that of pain professionals. High-dose opiate therapy, a promising new treatment for chronic pain, has basically been cut off at the knees because of high-profile cases in which DEA officials, U.S. attorneys, and state and local law enforcement with no medical training have taken it upon themselves to decide what is and isn’t appropriate treatment.
And the problem is self-perpetuating. As more doctors leave pain management out of fear, those left feel pressure to take on more patients. And the fewer doctors willing to prescribe pain patients the meds they need, the more doctors legitimate patients need to see to get proper treatment. Both are consequences of bad policy. And both are then considered by law enforcement to be signs of abuse.
Letting cops go fishing in patient databases for these “red flags” is only going to make it all worse. Sure, they may well find a few unscrupulous doctors, and perhaps some people who are using doctors to feed an addiction. But one thing that’s almost certain to happen is that doctors are going to become even more fearful that every script is going to be scrutinized. Which means fewer of them will be willing to write them. Which means more pain patients are going to suffer, despite the fact that there are drugs available to help them.
And the problem is self-perpetuating. As more doctors leave pain management out of fear, those left feel pressure to take on more patients. And the fewer doctors willing to prescribe pain patients the meds they need, the more doctors legitimate patients need to see to get proper treatment. Both are consequences of bad policy. And both are then considered by law enforcement to be signs of abuse.
Letting cops go fishing in patient databases for these “red flags” is only going to make it all worse. Sure, they may well find a few unscrupulous doctors, and perhaps some people who are using doctors to feed an addiction. But one thing that’s almost certain to happen is that doctors are going to become even more fearful that every script is going to be scrutinized. Which means fewer of them will be willing to write them. Which means more pain patients are going to suffer, despite the fact that there are drugs available to help them.
Our law enforcement agencies are out of control and out of their minds. Please, please do not cooperate with them unless they are enforcing laws that would have made sense to our ancestors 100 years ago.
That means don't help them with most of what they do. Bureaucrats with guns are not on your side.
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/08/669723/lists-of-pain-pillpatients-sought.html#ixzz0zE9eyDNY
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/08/669723/lists-of-pain-pillpatients-sought.html#ixzz0zE9eyDNY
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